Dance with the Devil: Change
by 6Insanity6Painted6Black9
Summary: Scabior promises a change; train ride to Hogwarts


Most of the day passed with no excitement but Scabior practiced his stealth and agility, probably the only exercises that made him so thin besides his crazy metabolism he wished he did not have; he was such a bean pole. Showing off to himself was always fun because he never got cocky, he was very confident in himself, and if he were showing off to someone else, it would contradict what he was showing off. He had not packed anything but a couple of books since last week and Lucius had his all done so he, as far as Scabior knew, took a fit girl out on a date.

He noticed the time as he eased back onto his bed, stretching his back out until it cracked and he enjoyed the cool air on his bare stomach, his shirt having lifted in the stretch but, sooner or later Abraxas would come in demanding he tuck in his shirt and get packed. Scabior thought he should pack anyhow, seeing all the time he killed so he threw things haphazardly into his trunk and put on the too-large brown/purple leather jacket, the last of his father's belongings, and shoved his wand into the pocket for using.

He had taken so long that Mrs. Malfoy was really annoyed with him and she kept passing his room on and off, sick of his on-and-off habits because he really did seem like he wanted to take as long as he could get away with and it, to her, seemed

"Are you packed Scabior?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, stopping at his open door.

"No," Scabior answered though he was, lying lazily on his bed, his eyes closed in peace but a smirk on his face.

"I'm sorry to say but I don't think your parents would be very proud of you," Mrs. Malfoy said, grimacing and entering the room, "You're so rude and ungrateful, sarcastic all the time, you sneak around like vermin all the time.

"Yeah?" Scabior said coldly, "Well they dead, aren't they so I don't need to worry then, do I? It don't matter 'oo is proud of me."

"How do you get through life with no praise or admiration Scabior?" she demanded, "You have no lady friends because of it and the only people you attract are vermin.

"I 'ave a lady friend and girls love me, I jus' don' care," he retorted, barely seeing Lucius pass then go back to watch them; no one could get anything passed him. Ok, they probably could but in his presence, it was very hard to do so. He was annoyed by the fact that they were enemies and brothers at the same time but he also enjoyed the relationship but now was not the time to see anyone.

"So you're throwing your entire life away just because you don't care?" Mrs. Malfoy asked coldly with her hands on her hips.

He glared. "I am not throwin' my life away woman, just cuz I not bowin to some freak lord doesn't mean I throw my life away, at leas' I do things for myself and get something' from it and I do 'ave ambitions," Scabior argued almost calmly but that was enough for her.

"Lights out young man," she said, flaring up at once, "I do expect very different from you this year and I better see it." She left just as Lucius hid. The door slammed shut with force enough to break it if it were not magical and it did so before Lucius could come and ask what that was about but still he knocked, brassing Scabior off further and that was not something advised to do because he was so rash in these times.

"You 'ave something to add to that?" Scabior demanded, opening the curtain as Lucius opened the door.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay," Lucius said with a smile, "You are, after all, kinda my little brother."

"Ain't that amazing?" Scabior said in the most sarcastic tone he had which dripped heavily in venom but he was closer to Lucius than anyone else he knew.

"Those who anger you have power over you," Lucius said softly, "Don't forget it."

"Yer right," Scabior sighed and he shut the door in Lucius' face but Lucius had plenty of time to pull away. He thought of Mrs. Malfoy and her cliché favoring, the favoring of her true son but instead of hate filling him, a smile slipped onto his face, almost psychotic, mostly evil, but either way, he was pleased with himself and up to no good.

"You'll definitely get somethin new this year," he said quietly, thinking of Mrs. Malfoy still but staring at the half nude witch poster on his wall, the poster which he was so bored with and had been for a while. He was annoyed at the false smiling and moving around trying to impress him because it all seemed fake and reminded him of those cheap slappers dancing in London's clubs.

Scabior suddenly got up and tore it down and threw it in the fireplace to let it burn. Growing up was the most obnoxious thing he had ever done and this fifth year was going to be good for him, he thought. "She thinks she 'as power over me, she 'as that mixed up," he said to himself, getting into bed after changing into nightclothes and he slept after less than an hour of thinking, no longer angry, just calm and perfectly happy again.

"Hurry up, we're leaving here shortly," Abraxas said, knocking loudly and Scabior woke up and got out of bed, quickly, startled that he had slept so late.

"Are you awake?" Abraxas said loudly only moments later.

"What got yer knickers tied up? 'm up already," Scabior said impatiently, pulling a pair of pants on and he took his nightshirt off, replacing it with a dress shirt.

"Hurry up, it's ten o clock already," Abraxas said, sounding stressed, and his footsteps came again and were gone.

"Blimey," Scabior said, putting his boots on, "By the way they go, we might as well be late and stuck 'ere." He managed to get dressed within five minutes, barely grabbing his jacket with his wand in the pocket and he pulled his trunk down the stairs instead of taking a second to call the house elf and they all apparated to King's Cross.

"Hi Scabior," a Ravenclaw girl giggled, waving. He refused to reply even though Mrs. Malfoy smiled encouragingly; that disappointed her. Girls were actually fairly fond of him, even some Gryffindor girls but they would not say it to his face because he was in Slytherin; Adarte Starr, the same Ravenclaw girl he had met in Flourish and Blott's, was the only girl he was absolutely sure did not have a crush on him although they seemed to be like friend enemies. Both of them were happy with that too.

"Bye," Scabior muttered, happy that he was free from them and he left to go to the train before they could object.

"Hey Scabior," he heard another girls' voice behind him and he felt someone jerk his ponytail a little too hard. There was only one person who would dare to do that while sober and that was Adarte Starr; that was how they had met and she had not quite given it up; it was alright though.

"Why're you 'ere?" he groaned like he did every year he saw her, looking into her pale blue eyes which had more mascara and eyeliner than usual. He really did not like her eyes because they were so magnetic it made him hurt when she hurt and he had no empathy for anybody else; her eyes were even more evil than the one his family called 'the Dark Lord'.

"I may be brilliant but even I need to learn," she smirked, "You don't seem to object to me pulling your hair as much as you used to."

"Are ye kiddin me?" he asked, raising his eyebrow in that attractive way he did. "I 'ave tried everythin I can think of to make you stop doin tha' to me love. I figure I can get close enough to get ya back." He pulled her hair too but she smiled about it and said, "Do it again."

"Shut it ye mudblood," he snapped.

"Keep talking," she said and he looked confused.

"What do ya mean keep talking?" he asked suspiciously.

"I love your accent, your words are almost ignorable," Adarte told him, poking his belly and she turned around and went to the train with a gaggle of boys and girls she always hung out with, also in fifth year.

"God I 'ate that girl," Scabior snarled to himself. He waited for Lucius for a while but saw Lucius go on the train with a few of his friends and surrounded by girls so he went onto the train all by himself, rolling his eyes and dragging his heavy trunk with him without an issue.

"'ey Macnair?" Scabior said, hitting a boy's shoulder slightly hard; The bloke turned and asked, "Alright?"

"Give me a color that would looks good in my 'air," Scabior ordered.

"What're you, a girl?" one of the guys said and he gave him a dangerous look.

"Uum, purple," Macnair said, shrugging carelessly.

"Why purple mate, why?" Scabior said unhappily, "Jus' cuz you know I 'ate it?"

"I dunno," he grunted, "It matches your personality."

"Bueno Scario," Scabior said irately and Macnair was suddenly running the opposite direction, screaming like a small child.

"Scaring charm," he smirked. "Can I test it on ye?" The other boy in the compartment shook his head.

He poked his head in a random compartment, intent on finding a color for the streak he wanted to put in his hair and determined to do enough socializing to make up for the fact that he wanted nothing to do with people on his first Monday back at school.

"Anyone got a mirror?" he asked but he snatched one out of a girl's hand, "Thank you, it'll only be a minute." He looked in the mirror intently, staring himself down before handing it back to the blushing girl who was giggling to her friend.

"What's yer favorite color love?" he asked the girl he'd taken the mirror from.

"Lilac," she smiled, "Why?"

"Why lilac, I 'ate purple?" Scabior said, "'ow bout you pretty?" He looked at the girls' companion.

"Magenta," she said coolly, unimpressed with her friend's interest in blokes like him. He left, a sour look on his face.

"That doesn't even count as a color!" he snarled furiously to himself, "Anyone 'ave a color I might like?" Scabior pretty much spent the whole train ride either eating or asking people for a color but no one who actually said a color he was okay with, which was a lot, could not give him a good idea why he'd put a streak in his hair of that color.

He really wanted to do it though so he would have to find a color all on his own with meaning to himself but other people at least having an opinion could. He did not even bother to ask Adarte who was in a compartment with five boys from different houses and a girl from Hufflepuff. But after asking Severus, who said black, the next compartment he poked his head in was hers.

He looked at all the boys, each in turn, daring them to kick him out but they just sat nonchalantly, watching him and waiting for him to say something. "Lost?" Adarte finally said tauntingly but she smiled genuinely all the same.

"No 'm not bloody lost on a train! I'm looking for something," he said grumpily, "At leas' tell me you don't like magenta though."

"Uh, no I don't actually, I mean, does it technically count as a color at all? I prefer purer colors. If that's all, you can leave now," she said. "Or really, you can leave whenever you feel up to it."

The Hufflepuffs laughed even though she did not mean it in the way they thought she did; she was subtly saying 'stay if you want, go, go'. "Going is preferable," a Hufflepuff girl said hotly.

"No i's not all, do ye know why yer favorite color is yer favorite?" Scabior asked, glaring at her and ignoring her invitation.

"Of course."

"That's what I bloody thought…wai', what?" he said, not surprised but feeling a bit like a fool.

"Get out now," the Hufflepuff girl said, pushing him out and closing the compartment door in his face.

"You just want me," Scabior said to the girl, opening the compartment door again just to close it again and leave.

"He is such a git," the girl said loudly enough for him to hear.

"Don't flatter me love. I'm blushing almost," he called back. Scabior really had no idea how much she fancied him if she did at all but he also cared nothing for her nor her opinion of him and if she was so bound to insult him, he might as well point out how affectionate having feelings for him at all.

"Wait, if she knows 'er favorite color, I should ask 'er," Scabior said, glancing over his shoulder, distracted but he shrugged and continued on.

The train pulled into Hogsmeade station at long last and, feeling restless, Scabior left quickly and went to find the thestral-drawn carriages. He had been able to see them ever since he was born because he had seen his mother die, nothing really traumatizing at the time as he hadn't understood what was going on but imagine his surprise ten years later when he saw a thestral grazing outside the Malfoy's manor. He worried nothing of his luggage, knowing by now that it would end up in his dungeon room and he visited with a thestral.

To him, they were very sweet creatures and very misunderstood. Thestrals were even more peaceful and powerful than horses even in all their rot and decay. He ran alongside them, walking and ended up there only a couple minutes beforehand. Still, in his attempt to catch his breath, they had to catch up and students were coming out, the first years going by boat, probably already there.


End file.
